I Promised You - William and Ophelia (8 page)

The wind blew very strongly
and the necklace in Ophelia’s hand started to glow brightly in the
night. Waves of color, blues, reds, greens, and yellow filled the
night sky along with shooting stars. Ophelia pointed to the figure
of her husband still in the swing and said “goodbye my love.” Soon
there was no swing, no woman in the garden, only a gold and blue
heavy fog, which drifted out to sea.

Epilogue

Thelma came downstairs wearing a very lovely
long blue gown.

“Thelma, you look beautiful, I didn’t know
that we were supposed to dress up for tonight, should I go and see
what I can find to change into?” Ophelia asked her cousin.

“No, you are fine, shall we go?”

“Right now?”

“Yes”

“But Luna is not here yet.” Ophelia said,
looking out the window and seeing the heavy blue mist fog that
Thelma had told her about earlier was already hanging heavy in the
sky.

“Yes, they are all waiting for us.”

“All? Who is all? Is Hugo coming too?”

“Yes.”

“You are being very mysterious tonight,
cousin. It is beautiful outside. I wish only that my mother could
be here to see it.” Ophelia said.

“Gertie is with you always, as is your Aunt
Ophelia for whom you were named for.” Thelma answered her.

Ophelia and Thelma walked to the back of the
house and down the long path behind the smaller house. They walked
into the vast grassy area that stretched for several miles before
the woods came into full view.

The snow and ice made everything shine and
sparkle under the moon like a winter wonderland. She and Thelma
continued walking towards what appeared to be a very large
bonfire.

“A bonfire! How cool is that!” Ophelia
said.

They walked up to the bonfire and there was
Luna and Hugo, as well as the miniature ponies Caramel, Zippy and
Ace. Ophelia was shocked to see that Janet, the nice lady from The
Spa was also in attendance. Thelma motioned Ophelia to a chair and
as she sat down she almost screamed out as the cat from the Village
jumped on her lap. The funny looking cat with the orange hair,
black noes and white tail. “You again! What is this really all
about?”

Thelma walked closer to the fire and took her
place next to Luna and Hugo. “Ophelia, we told you that the time
had come to leave our home so that the Great Evil and others would
not destroy our family. It was imperative that we all leave there
and quickly, but we also had to be very careful. A mass exodus
would have been noticed and although the people of the forest were
on our side, we could not take anything for granted.” Luna
began.

“Okay, so, hum...” Ophelia said, looking at
Janet.

“We had to devise a plan, one that would get
us out of harm’s way, but one that would attract the least
attention. I have told you about Julia, and about her son. Julia
was very powerful, although she had hidden it well. What we did not
tell you is that Julia escaped and came to Enchanted with us,
although back then Enchanted was not as it is today.”

“How?” Was the only word that Ophelia could
squeak out of her lips at the moment, her mouth felt very dry.

“Julia had a ring. A very powerful,
beautiful, red ring. With this ring she was able to transport
people, over mountains, oceans, no matter, the ring was that
powerful and did its job well. It can also function as a tracking
device and it recharges itself with the rays of the sun.” Luna
explained.

“We told you of the couple who were hired to
be companions to the King’s second cousin, Julia.” Luna said. “

“Yes, I remember, Cynthia and her husband Ash
and they were on Julia’s side along with my mother.”

“To make their plan work, Julia had let it be
known that she was going to the next town to shop. She left with
Cynthia as her companion and they had one of the miniature horses
pull the wagon.” Luna continued.

“What about her son, did he go as well?”
Ophelia asked, absently mindedly stroking the odd looking cat that
still sat on her lap.

“Yes, I did.” Hugo said, walking up to stand
by Janet’s side. “It would have been odd for a mother to take such
a young child shopping back then, so I was left in the care of
someone who could protect me.” Hugo said.

“My mother?” Ophelia asked.

“Yes, she left me with your mother, Gertrude.
Janet here, is my mother, the King’s second cousin known then as
Julia.” Hugo said, placing his arm around his mother’s
shoulders.

Ophelia was almost shell shocked, but as much
as her head was beginning to swirl, she had no clue as to just how
much more powerful that whirlpool in her head was about to get.

“That is an amazing story! So Cynthia helped
Julia get away from the King and the Palace. That was very good of
her.” Ophelia said.

“Thank you.” Said a voice stepping out of the
shadows.

“Cindy! That was you who helped Janet?”

“Yes, with a lot of help from my husband,
Ash, whom you know as Ashton from The Spa, and also from the wagon
as you know me.” Cindy said.

“I don’t understand.” Ophelia said.

“My name is Cynthia, but I am also known as
Caramel and my husband is Ashton, known also as Ace.” She finished
as her husband, Ashton stepped forward.

Ophelia did not know what to say. She turned
to Zippy who was standing there and said “So, who is Zippy?”

They all laughed and said “Zippy is Zippy, a
miniature horse we purchased after we came to Enchanted.” Thelma
said.

“I am in shock, I don’t know how I will ever
be able to process all of this information.” Ophelia said. “Do we
have anything to drink out here, any wine perhaps?”

“I think that is a good idea, dear.” Luna
said. “For the greatest shock is yet to come.”

“Ophelia wasn’t sure her heart or head could
comprehend anything else. She looked at all of the dark blue heavy
fog surrounding them and was surprised she could still see
beautiful stars shinning in the winter night sky. She looked at
Cindy and Ashton and how happy they looked and then something
jogged her mind.

“Janet, I am so glad that you are a part of
our group. I was wonderful how you and Cindy could have possibly
known my mother. Now I know!”

Hugo reappeared with a large tray of wine
glasses with cherry wine bottles being carried by Luna. They passed
out the glasses and Ophelia said “I think this calls for a toast,
may I?”

“Not yet.” Luna said, “There is more to
come.”

Just then the funny looking cat jumped down
off of Ophelia’s lap and started running circles around the
bonfire. The sky lit up different shades of blue and red, yellow,
orange and green and sparks from the bonfire just added to the
spectacle.

Ophelia blinked her eyes and there before her
stood her mother, Gertie.

“You just had to make a grand entrance as
always, Gertie.” Luna laughed.

Gertie walked up to Ophelia and put her arms
around her daughter. “Hello, Ophelia, it has been a long time.”

Ophelia was speechless. She clung to her
mother and she could not stop the tears running down her cheeks.
“Mother, why did you pretend that you had died?” Ophelia cried.

“I was one hundred and three in mortal years,
people were beginning to talk! I got tired of waiting, I wanted to
see you again.” Gertie said.

Ophelia looked at her mother’s still
extremely beautiful face and smiled. “You found me.”

“With help of the ring, yes. I just had to
find a way to get the ring to you and get you back here. Thelma did
a great job, don’t you think? Of course we all had a great deal of
help from the Gaunter family, unbeknownst to them. I willed the
trunk to them after I hid my journal and the ruby red ring in it.
The semi-truck that caused their van to swerve that night was no
fluke.”

“I can’t believe how happy I am, how
everything does work out the way it should here in Enchanted.”
Ophelia said.

“I know how Janet, Cindy and Ashton escaped,
but mother, how did you and Hugo get out?”

“To finish the story, I took Hugo from the
Palace. We left together that night. Hugo was transformed into a
deer. Anyone who saw us leave that night would have only seen an
old woman in tattered clothes, riding on a miniature pony and
leading a small deer.”

“I don’t think I could ever think of you as
an old woman mother, no matter how many years you have existed. I
am beyond fortunate to have inherited your looks. But there is one
piece left of this puzzle, mother.” Ophelia said.

“You have had a number of revelations
tonight, Ophelia, perhaps we should wait before hearing anymore.
There is actually more to the story than even Thelma and Luna are
aware of at this point.” Gertie said.

“Excuse me?” Thelma and Luna said in
unison.

“Ophelia, your Grandmother and Aunt Ophelia,
who is Thelma and Luna’s mother and your name sake, were supposed
to leave with us that night. Your grandmother went missing and
Ophelia’s husband William, went to search for her. Time grew short
and your Aunt Ophelia met us in the clearing and handed Thelma and
Luna to me and told us to keep them safe. She would not leave
without her husband and mother. Her love was that great.”

Gertie then turned to Thelma and Luna.

“Turn around” Gertie said.

Luna and Thelma did and there stood their own
mother, Gertie’s sister Ophelia. Luna and Thelma rushed to embrace
their mother and Ophelia took that moment to ask the question she
had never before asked her mother.

“Mom, who is my father? Was he the Great
Evil?”

Gertie looked at her daughter and took her
face into her hands. “Yes, my love, he was.”

Ophelia’s heart swelled with more love than
she ever thought possible for her mother. “Oh mom, you have
suffered so much, I am so proud of you, of all of us!”

Ophelia the senior clapped her hands, causing
everyone to pay attention to what she was going to say. “I think
now would be a good time for that toast, Ophelia, my niece, please
do the honors!”

Janet then stepped into the middle of the
group and said “Just one more thing.” She then produced a large
painting that showed sisters Gertie and Ophelia, Luna and Thelma
and Gertie’s daughter Ophelia.

“This was the surprise that I was hinting at
this morning at The Spa, Ophelia. Painted almost entirely from
memory.”

The women looked at the painting with tears
in their eyes. The senior Ophelia then said “Now we have even more
to toast!”

“You came back to us, sister.” Gertie said
with tears in her eyes.

“I promised you.” Ophelia said.

Thank you for spending this time with my favorite characters.
I also hope you have enjoyed reading I Promised You – William
and
Ophelia and
will leave a review where purchased.

Ghost House
–
where we first meet Suzanne and The Gaunter family – Book
1

Ghost Granny
– where we first meet Thelma and her sister Luna – Book
2

Ghost Cat, Thelma’s Dilemma
– where we first meet Ophelia Book 3

Gertie’s Choice
– Gertie’s story from the old country to
Enchanted and beyond. Book 5

I Promised, Ophelia and
William
– The story of Thelma and Luna’s
parents. Book 6 – Final book in the Ghost Series.

Other
books by this author:

Jennifer – Hey, Who Am I? –
Book 1

Jennifer – The Journey Continues
– Book 2

Jennifer – The Journey Ends
– Book 3

Please check out my website
http://www.carolcolbert.com